This invention relates to a recording device for storage media and a transport device for labeling storage media. In particular the recording device is a batch loaded compact disk copying unit that automatically loads and records a series of recordable disks, and the transport device is a transport unit that transports a disk from a compact disk copying unit to a printer that places a label on the top face of compact disk.
As computers and consumer electronic products have evolved to handle greater capacities of data, the storage medium for recording data or information generated has similarly evolved. The optical disk has become an inexpensive medium on which to record a large volume of data. Originally used in the audio recording industry, the laser disk or modern compact disk has become the medium choice for fixed data storage. While read/write compact disks have been devised, the large majority of compact disks are written once for multiple reading.
In the past, the transfer of data onto compact digital disks was a costly procedure economically feasible only when manufacturing a large quantity of copies. Users with applications that require relatively few copies or require frequent data updates could not reap the benefits of this technology, even though low cost disk readers were readily available. The advent of recordable digital compact disks was intended to allow users to record their own disks and thereby achieve significant savings. Unlike a common compact disk that has been pressed by a mold, a recordable disk has a surface that is etched by a laser contained in the disk recorder. Once etched, the recordable disk is unalterable and is readable indefinitely.
Commercially available disk recorders have enabled users to record individual compact disks. The disk recorder is typically connected to a personal computer having a hard drive on which the information to be transferred is temporarily stored. Ordinary programs permit the copying and transfer of data from the internal hard drive of the computer to the disk recorder, which records the data on the disk. This process is time consuming and requires the attention of a user who must load and unload the recorder after each copying transaction. Where it is desirable to record the same information on multiple disks, the use of an automatic loading device is required to eliminate the constant attention of an operator.
Various systems have been proposed by one of the present inventors and are the subject of separate applications. In application Ser. No. 08/732,940, filed Oct. 17, 1996, entitled, "Programmable Self-operating Caddy-loaded Compact Disk Duplication System," a device is described for automatically recording on a stack of compact disks contained in protective caddies. Also, in Ser. No. 60/040,422, filed Mar. 13, 1997, entitled "Programmable Self-Operating Compact Disk Duplication System Using Stacked Spindles," there is described an automatic compact disk duplication system with vertically stacked storage spindles and disk drives.
Where high volume is not a concern, batch loading for a single recorder unit can be accomplished with an automatic loading device. In this manner a series of recordable disks can be recorded without the attention of an operator. This invention relates to the electromechanical means for enhancing a standard commercial recording device with an automatic loading mechanism to enable the copying of a stack of recordable disks.
The automatic compact disk duplication systems described in the applications listed above along with other disk duplication systems currently available significantly lessen the amount of operator supervision during the disk copying process, but none of these disk duplication systems can coordinate the printing of labels or other identifying information onto the top face of each recordable disk immediately before or after the recording process. The automatic placement of a label on the face of a recordable disk eliminates the possibility that a user will mis-identify a recorded disk. The invention of the disk printer transport system relates to the electromechanical means for enhancing most commercial recording devices with a disk labeling feature, allowing users to further automate the disk duplication process while utilizing their current disk duplication equipment, thereby achieving significant cost savings for a relatively small investment.